Trip device for operating railway-switches, trap-doors, &amp;c.



F. M. EVANS. TRIP DEVICE FOR OPERATING RAILWAY SWITCHES, TRAP DOORS, 6w.

APPLIUATION FILED JUNE 10, 1909.

4 sums-exam '1. v

INVENTOR Patented Feb 1, 1910.

F. M. EVANS. TRIP DEVICE FOR OPERATING RAILWAY SWITGKES, TRAP noons, 8w.

' APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10, 1909.

M79896 Patented Feb. 1, 1910.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

F. M. EVANS TRIP DEVICE FOR OPERATING RAILWAY SWITCHES, TRAP DOORS, &c.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10, 1909.

Patented eb. 1, 1910.

4 SHEBTS-SHEET 3- F. M. EVANS. TRIP DEVICE FOR OPERATING RAILWAYSWITGHBS, TRAP DOORS, 8w.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10, 1909.

Patented Feb. 1, 1910.

4. SHEETS-SHEET 4;.

WITNESSES Attorney FRANCIS MARION EVANS, OF IVY, KENTUCKY.

TRIP DEVICE FOR OPERATING RAILWAY-SWITCHES, TRAP-DOORS, 8m.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Feb. 1, 1910.

Application filed. June 10, 1909. Serial No. 501,382.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS M. EVANS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ivy, in the county of Bell and State of Kentucky, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Trip Devices forOperating Railway-Switches, Trap-Doors, &c., of which the following is aspecification, reference being'had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention is an improved trip clevice for use on railways forthrowing switches, operating trap doors and for performing analogousfunctions.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple and practicalmechanism of this character which will be reliable and efiicient inoperation and which may be actuated by a car or train passing in eitherdirection over the track.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists of thenovel features of construction and the combination and arrangement ofparts hereinafter fully described and claimed, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of thetrip device; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section; Figs. 3 and 4 aretransverse sections; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the casing; Fig. 6is a similar View of the spring; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of thetrip arm and slide which carries it; Fig. 8 is a detail view showing anoperating device to be used on a car, locomotive or the like foractuating the trip arms; Fig. 9 is a plan view of a railway trackshowing the main line and sidin and the switch adapted to be operated bythe improved trip device; Figs. 10 and 11 are transverse sections takenon the plane indicated by the lines 10 10 and 1111 in Fig. 9; Fig. 12 isa plan view of a railway track showing a horizontally swinging trap dooror gate arranged upon the same and adapted to be operated by my improvedtrip device; Fig. 13 is a transverse section taken on the planeindicated by the line l813 in Fig. 12; and Fig. 14 is a detail view ofthe bracket attached to the door.

In the drawings 1 denotes a trip arm adapted to be arranged along arailway track and to project into the path of a retractable operatingdevice 2 carried by a car, locomotive or the like passingover the track.The trip arm or member 1 iscarried forked or bifurcated inner end of theslide 3 and it is arranged on a transverse pivot pin 10, the ends ofwhich latter project into guide grooves or slots 4 formed in theopposite sides of the casing 4 to limit the longitudinal movement of theslide 3. To permit the block or carriage 8 to slide freely on the bottomof the casing 4, pairs of antifriction rollers 11 are journaled ontransverse pivots 12 and arranged in recesses in the four corners of thecarriage 8. The shafts or pivots 12 are clamped in the re duced ends ofthe carriage 8 by making the latter of upper and lower sections 13, 14and uniting them by fastenings 15, the arm 1 being formed integral withthe upper section 13. Said arm 1 projects through a longitudinal slot 16formed in the top of the casing 4, the ends of said slots beingenlarged, as shown at 17 to permit the carriage or member 8 to tilt. Thebottom of the casing 4 beneath the end 17 of the slot 16 is also open,as shown at 18, for the same purpose and to restore the carriage 8 to 1its normal horizontal position springs 19 are arranged in the openings18. These springs are preferably formed from one piece of resilientmetal by bending its ends, as shown in the drawings, and securing itscentral portion upon the bottom of the casing 4 by means of a crossstrip 20.

By constructing and mounting the trip arm 1 in the manner abovedescribed, it

will be seen that when it is engaged by the moving actuating arm ormember 2 on a car or the like, it will be slid longitudinally from oneend to the other of said slot in the casing and when it reaches the lastmentioned end will tilt downwardy to permit the member 2 to pass overit. The slide 3 has its end connected by a suitable means to a switchpoint, trap door or other ob ject or device which is to be operated bythe mechanism. It will be noted on reference to Fig. 2 that when thecarriage or block 8 vided on the cars, locomotives or other vebracket32.

I hicles which pass over the track for the purpose of actuating the triparm 1, a retractable member such as shown in Figs. 8 is preferablycarried on cars and locomotives. This arm 2 is in the form of avertically slidable bar arranged in a guide 21 on a car or vehicle andconnected to one arm of a bell crank 22, which latter has its other armconnected by a link 23 to an adjustable operating lever 24. By means ofthis lever the arm 2 may be lowered or raised.

While I preferably employ a retractable operating member 2, it will beunderstood thatin some instances such member 2 may be made stationary soas to always actuate the arm 1 when it passes the same.

In Figs. 9 and 10 I have shown the invention applied for operating thepoints 25 of the switch arranged in a main line 26 and a siding 27 Thesepoints are connected to a transverse slide bar 28 which is actuated by alongitudinal slide bar 29 having a diagonal or cam slot 30 to receive avertical pin 31 rising from the bar 28 and having its upper endsupported by an inverted U shaped The slide 29 is mounted in similarguide brackets 33. The slide 29 rests upon metal plates 33 arranged onthe cross ties beneath the brackets 33. One end of the slide 29 isconnected by a link 34 to the outer end of the slide 3 of one of thetrip devices arranged in the main line. Another of these trip devices isarranged in the easing and has its slide 3 connected by a link 35 to atransverse lever 36 pivoted at its center in a bearing 37 and having itsother end connected by a link 38 to the other end of the slide 39. Theoperation of this switch throwing mechanism will be readily understoodfrom the foregoing description.

In Figs. 11 and 12 of the drawings I have shown the improved tripmechanism adapted for opening and closing a trap door such as used inmines or a railway gate. This door or gate 39 is hingedly mounted on oneside, as shown at 40, on a suitable frame 41 so as to swing transverselyacross the track and upon its bottom adjacent to its hinged end is abracket 42 having a depending pin 43 connected to links 44 which extendin opposite directions and are loosely connected to longitudinal slidebars 45 arranged in bearings 46. One of the slide bars 45 has an ofi'-set portion 47 and its extremity is connected to the slide 3 of one ofthe trip devices. Another of the trip devices is arranged on the otherside of the door and has its slide 3 connected by a link 48 to atransverse lever 49 pivoted at its center, as shown at 50, and havingits other end connected by a link 51 to the other slide bar 45. It isthought that the operation of this mechanism will be readily understoodfrom the foregoing description taken in connection with the drawings. Itwill be understood that the two trip devices will be suitably distantfrom the door so that the door will be opened before the car reaches itand will not be closed until after the car has passed through. the door.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of theinvention in detail, it will be understood that various changes may bemade within the spirit and scope of the invention and it will also beunderstood that my invention may be used in other ways than the twoabove set forth and shown in the drawings.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is:

1. In a trip device of the character described, the combination of amovable actuating member, a trip carried by said memher and movableindependently thereof, and means for maintaining the trip in fixedrelation with respect to said member until the latter reaches apredetermined point in its movement.

2. In a trip device of the character described, the combination of amovable actuating member, a tiltable trip carried thereby and means forguiding said trip and preventing it from tilting until it reaches thelimit of the movement of the actuating memher in one direction.

3. In a trip device of the character described, the combination of anactuating slide, a tiltable trip arm mounted on said slide, and meansfor guiding said slide and the trip arm whereby the latter will beprevented from tilting until the slide reaches the limit of its movementin one direction.

4. In a trip device of the character described, the combination of anactuating slide, a tiltable trip arm mounted on said slide, means forguiding said slide and the trip arm whereby the latter will be preventedfrom tilting until the slide reaches the limit of its movement in onedirection and means for restoring the trip arm to its normal positionwhen released.

5. In a trip device of the character described, the combination of acasing, an actuating slide therein, a tiltable trip arm carried by saidslide and a spring for restoring the triparm to its normal positionafter being tilted.

6. In a trip device of the character described, the combination of acasing, an

actuating slide therein, a tiltable trip arm carried by said slide,means for limiting the movement of the actuating slide, means forpreventing the tiltable trip arm from tilting until the slide reachesthe limit of its movement in one direction and means for restoring thearm to its normal position after being tilted.

7. In a trip device of the character de scribed, the combination of acasing having in its top a longitudinal slot and in its bottom openingsopposite the ends of said slot, an actuating slide in said casing, atiltable arm carried by said slide and extending through the slot in thetop of the casing, the ends of the base portion of said tiltable triparm being adapted to extend over the open ings in the bottom of thecasing and springs in said openings in the bottom of the casing torestore the trip arm to normal position after being tilted.

8. In a trip device of the character described, the combination of acasing having in its top a longitudinal slot and in its bottom openingsopposite the ends of said slot, an actuating slide in said casing, saidslide and casing having a slot and pin connection to limit the movementof said slide, a carriage p-ivotally mounted on the slide and havinganti-friction rollers to engage the bottom of the casing, a trip armrising from and projecting through the slot in the top of the casing,the ends of said carriage being adapted to extend over the openings inthe bottom of the casing and springs in said openings in the bottom ofthe casing for re turning the trip arm to its normal position afterbeing tilted.

9. The combination with a vehicle carrying an actuating member, of atrack for the vehicle, a movable element upon the track, a tiltabletrip, an actuating member carrying said trip, operative connectionsbetween said actuating member and said movable element, and means forguiding said tiltable trip when engaged and actuated by the actuatingmember on the vehicle, whereby the grip will be prevented from tiltinguntil the actuating member which carries it reaches the limit of itsmovement in one direction.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

FRANCIS MARION EVANS.

Witnesses H. H. FUSON, BERRY P. HOWARD.

